It's time to cancel this talk of 'cancel culture'
What, exactly is cancel culture?
Is it someone getting fired for harassment or problematic views? No, that's a workplace doing its job.
Is it a popular figure losing fans or affiliations because of their past actions? No, that's the power of public opinion.
Is it a company choosing not to publish a book, or a group of people boycotting a brand? No, that's just the free market at work.
Cancel culture, as it's understood today, isn't real. Not only do people and things allegedly "canceled" by this imaginary movement often prevail in the end, the whole concept is a smoke screen to distract from actual systemic forces of suppression.
Let's take a look at some recent victims of so-called cancel culture.
Bestselling country artist Morgan Wallen faced criticism after he was caught saying a racial slur on camera. Some radio stations decided to stop playing his songs, but they climbed up the Spotify charts nonetheless,
and his album sales and social media followers skyrocketed. So far, his career has certainly not be canceled.
Gina Carano, who played a supporting role on Disney's "The Mandalorian," was fired after comparing the treatment of conservatives to the Holocaust.
There is accountability.
There are legal repercussions. There are tides of public opinion and the pull of the free market. There are also longstanding institutional structures that serve to suppress and threaten those who act against the interests of those with power.
None of this is cancel culture.